


Tender Little Care (TLC)

by professional_benaddict, StarkerplusStrange



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Age Play, Asthma, Doctors & Physicians, Medical Inaccuracies, Medical Kink, Medical Procedures, Non-Sexual Age Play, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21801679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/professional_benaddict/pseuds/professional_benaddict, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarkerplusStrange/pseuds/StarkerplusStrange
Summary: A collection of medical and age-play scenes inspired by the 'Little Patients' series. All credit for inspiration behind this AU is given to @professional_benaddict & @spiderbun.(regular updates can not be guaranteed at this time.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Loki & Thor (Marvel), Peter Parker & Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 13
Kudos: 101





	1. Baby's Asthma

**Author's Note:**

  * For [professional_benaddict](https://archiveofourown.org/users/professional_benaddict/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello All! Welcome to the first chapter of Tender Little Care, an AU strongly identical to the ‘Little Patients’ series. At the time, weekly updates are not a possibility but I hope they will be in the future.
> 
> Also shoutout to Rafni (@professional_benaddict) for being such a big supporter of this AU already! Ily!!

Peter stared longingly out the window at the brightly colored playground in front of him, a pout evident on his face. His daddies, Tony and Stephen, had decided last minute that he was unfit to go outside due to his shallow breathing.

He was the only little stuck inside. Except for Loki who was being cared for by his daddy (Thor), after refusing to eat lunch.

“It’s not fair, ” he whined, yanking on one of the straps of his overalls.

Stephen who was helping to clean up after lunch came over as soon as he overheard, crouching in front of Peter, removing his grasp on the strap. “What’s not fair, baby?”

“Everyone’s outside without me.” The caregiver sighed heavily. He had expected this to happen no matter how many times he and Tony told the baby they weren't comfortable with him being outside today, especially with his oxygen levels being lower than normal.

After getting an offering of graham crackers and a small sippy cup of chocolate milk, Peter finally tore himself away from the window and allowed himself to be guided to the table by Stephen. He was strapped into a booster seat high chair before happily taken a bite of the graham crackers.

When he was about a third of the way into his snack, Stephen reached into his lab coat pocket and took out a portable pulse ox clip, placing it onto Peter’s middle finger. “Sorry baby, but Daddy just wants to check real quick.”

His stats were thankfully much better than this mornings but that still didn’t mean he was allowed to go outside, and what hurt more was the little’s hopeful face when he pointed to the window in hopes of going outside. 

“Sorry not today, bunny. I need to have a listen anyway,” he announced, removing the stethoscope that laid draped around his neck, placing it on the little’s chest. Peter flinched at the chill of the stethoscope yet thankfully settled down a few seconds later. “We can do a puzzle or color.”

Peter glanced towards the window once more before reluctantly agreeing, pushing the rest of his snack away and reaching his arms up to be picked up. “I’m done.” Stephen glanced at the plate and sighed, wishing the boy had eaten a little more but it’s a lot more than when Peter first came into their care. Although, to no surprise, he did finish all of his chocolate milk.

Once he was let down from the high-chair, Peter ran ahead of Stephen and waited for him at the double doors so he could unlock it with his key card. They passed Tony on the way, who was on his way to the ward to help deal with Loki as it was unusual for him to not eat anything.

Peter’s face beamed with happiness when he was allowed access into the playroom, not bothered in the slightest over the fact that there wasn’t another little to play with. While he was preoccupied with some Lego Duplo building blocks, Stephen had slipped out to his office for his work tablet. If he was going to be stuck in here with Pete then he might as well get some work done.

It wasn’t necessarily a rule for a caregiver to stay with the little at all times, Stephen just wanted to make sure his baby boys lungs were doing okay. Therefore he spent his time catching up on charts, seeing if any Littles needed future treatments, procedures, testing, or any check-ups done and so far it only looked like it was Loki.

About a half-hour into the playing session is when things began to go south for Peter. He wouldn’t openly admit it to Stephen but his chest began to suddenly feel tight and he started wheezing too. Thankfully Stephen knew all of Peter’s tactics like the back of his hand by now and was quick to pick the boy, placing him onto the small love-seat in the room. He went over to towards a supply drawer held in the room and grabbed a spacer with a mask, retrieving Peter’s prescribed inhaler out of his lab coat pocket and removing the cap, he slipped it into the adapter of the spacer.

Walking back over to Peter with the spacer now held in his hand, he could see that Peter was having more difficulty breathing within the thirty seconds he’d been gone. Placing the mask over his mouth and nose he instructed the little on what to do. “Okay baby, you’re going to take a deep breath through your nose for daddy on three. One.. two.. three.”

Doing exactly as Stephen had said Peter took breathed in through his nose and repeated the action a second time when his daddy instructed to do so. Almost instantly (to him) he felt his lungs begin to clear up again. Unbeknownst to him, Stephen was planning on taking him up to the ward for some oxygen.

”Pete, Daddy wants to see you upstairs.” Sure, it was a cruel thing to basically lie to Peter yet he knew there'd be no actual way to get him to the ward if he knew the truth.

Stepping off the elevator and onto the ward Stephen walked to the curtained beds and placed Peter on one, two beds across from Loki. Needless to say, Peter was quite confused about that.

“I thought we were going to see Dad,” he wondered, watching Stephen wearily as he gathered supplies.

Stephen laughed, grabbing a pack of electrodes in the meantime. “We sure are, but we also need to do some things first. Here.” He removed Peter’s overalls and shirt leaving him in just a pull-up, that way none of the wires or tubing would become tangled and it was easy for them to listen to Peter’s lungs.

Next, Stephen took the packet of electrodes and begin to place them across Peters's chest before hooking them to the lead wires for the heart monitor. A pulse ox was wrapped around one of Peter’s fingers, he believed it was a band-aid. Once that was completed, an oxygen mask designed to look like a turtle was placed over Peter’s nose and mouth and strapped to the back of his head.

”Daddy, no, ” he whined, pushing the mask off of his face despite Stephen’s refusal not to. His wrist was quickly grasped by Stephen’s and placed back down on the bed.

“No, Pete. You know you don't touch anything, especially things that are helping you. I don't want to have to restrain you but if you can't keep your hands to yourself then it will have to be done.”

Peter whined softly and slumped back into the bed, crossing his arms yet still allowing Stephen to place the mask over his face once more. At this exact moment is when Tony walked in after being paged by Stephen. The older doctor immediately went over and kissed the boy’s head, grabbing a blood pressure cuff afterward and wrapping it around Peter’s upper left arm.

“His oxygen levels look good,” he commented, taking a glance at the monitor above the bed. 

Stephen agreed, “Yeah, he thinks it’s a brilliant idea to take off the oxygen mask.” Tony snorted at the remark and proceeded to grab his stethoscope from he it was around his neck, wanting to take a listen to Peter himself. “I gave him two doses of Albuterol when he was having the flare-up in the playroom.”

“Well, it seems like that helped. There's not much wheezing and his levels seem pretty steady, but I’d still like to keep him for monitoring.” Stephen was already one step ahead and had paged one of the nurses to bring some comforting things for Peter while he was stuck on the ward, which included his favorite stuffie, a fuzzy blanket, and books or toys.

Peter tries to remove the oxygen mask once more when he sees Tony enter, yet is quickly halted by him. “Haven’t we told you not to touch anything we put on you while in the ward? We do this for your safety.” The mask was adjusted back onto Peter’s face with a tap to his hand as a warning. “Leave it on.”

Steve, a nurse, and caregiver to Bucky (another little), soon walked into the curtained area, holding Peter’s backpack with the items Stephen had requested. “How’s the little baby?”

“His levels are much better so that’s a start,” commented Stephen, taking a glance at Peter to make sure he kept the mask on. “But as you probably guessed we’re keeping him overnight.” He accelerated the backpack from Steve and opened it up, placing the fluffy blanket on top of Peter.

When a little had to stay on the ward either overnight or longer, the caregivers always did their best to make sure a little was comfortable during their stay. Many times that included grabbing their favorite stuffie, toy, or blanket; generally something that comforted them.

Peter was pretty content when he Stephen laid the fluffy, pink blanket on top of him, followed by handing him a stuffie and a few toys. The caregivers made sure to be mindful of the wires and tubing when placing toys in the hospital bed.

Later on, that same evening when Peter was all settled, Stephen and Tony sat with him while he did his nightly nebulizer treatment. They read him stories and did puzzles all while reminding Peter not to chew on the mouthpiece about twenty times.

When morning came around, Peter’s mood had changed drastically after finding out he was being kept on the ward for another night. During that morning's checkup, Stephen and Tony had found he was still wheezing and his oxygen levels were in the lower range, thus their reasoning for keeping him on the ward.

Needless to say, Peter wasn't happy about that. “You promised I could go out today!” The pout was evident behind the nasal oxygen cannula the two doctors had switched out last night.

Stephen looked up from where he was filling in Peter’s chart with this morning's vitals. “No, we didn't promise but you need to calm down before you get too worked up.” He kissed Peter’s head and adjusted the cannula. “What do you want for breakfast, bunny?”

“A bottle.”

“You can have something else with the bottle,” Tony announced. Peter whined softly but soon politely asked for animal crackers. It was a strange request and the two doctors had hoped he’d eat something a little more healthy, but the only thing they could do was encourage it, otherwise Peter wouldn’t eat at all. They’d have to try later for him to eat more and hopefully avoid a banana bag, more commonly known as an IV bag of fluids.

Unfortunately for Peter, it doesn’t work out and the boy ends up with a small banana bag anyways. Although he is lucky enough to take a small walk around the ward with Stephen later in the afternoon. However things turn for the worse two days later when Peter is scheduled to leave the ward.

His oxygen levels had dropped overnight, leaving Tony who was on call that night to put him back on the oxygen mask. Surprisingly, he had also spiked a slight fever. Neither Stephen or Tony can find any matching symptoms for a proper diagnosis, so they can only assume it’s a viral thing. However when they listen to his breathing they find it to be more of a respiratory infection.

Peter becomes frustrated when he finds out that his daddies are making him stay on the ward for a few more days. He believes that they don’t know what they’re talking about.

“It’s not fair,” he mumbles from behind the pacifier. Normally he wouldn’t have one, but because he’s been on the ward for so long, Tony and Stephen feel it’s best for right now as to not complicate things further. “I wanna play!”

“You can play after you’re all better, bunny.” Stephen answers him with a soft, calming voice. “We wouldn’t want another little boy or girl to get sick, would we?”

Peter huffs with a cute pout from behind his pacifier and closes his eyes, waiting for Stephen and Tony to be done. He knows it’s silly but he can feel tears beginning to well up in his eyes, becoming so overwhelmed with everything. This is the second longest he’s stayed on the ward, the first time being when he first came to the facility, and it’s starting getting frustrating and boring.

Tony notices this and wipes the tears before they could fall. “What’s the matter, Baby Boy? It’s only for a couple more days and then you get to play with all your friends again.” Peter’s lip quivers again but no more tears fall.

They continue on with the checkup and soon enough Peter falls asleep in the middle of it, to which the two caregivers share a laugh at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope you guys enjoyed and hope to have the next chapter up soon! Below you can find my tumblr if you’d let to ask me any questions about the AU or you can also do so here!
> 
> Love,  
> Ali.
> 
> Tumblr: starkerplusstrange


	2. Scraped Knees and Pretty Bandages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter knees get scraped up when he’s playing outside and his Daddies fix him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is long overdue and I’m sorry for that, but I’ve now decided to update when I can instead of regular ones. It works so much better for me that way. Also my apologies if you find any mistakes in this.
> 
> Also shoutout to all the lovely darlings who supported me during this!! 
> 
> Love you all!  
> Ali

It’s a week later when Peter is finally allowed to be let off the ward after his asthma attack, the countless monitoring, and then the respiratory infection. Needless to say, Peter is glad despite the rule about limited physical activity for the time being. Stephen and Tony don’t won’t to comprise his asthma anymore.

Although he’s limited to things he can do because of the temporary rule Stephen and Tony put in place, he’s still allowed to be on the playground - which is exactly where he’ll be going after breakfast that morning.

They’re having French toast sticks with slices of apples and melons, a sure favorite of Peter’s. He’s sat in between Bucky and Loki who seem to be having a squabble with each other this morning.

“You started it,” Loki taunts, reaching over Peter to stick his tongue out at Bucky.

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

Stephen takes notice the two arguing boys from where he stands at the counter, and comes over to take control of the situation. “Hey, stop it you two. Eat your breakfast please.” He place a kiss on the top of Peter’s head. “Hi, Baby. You enjoying breakfast?”

“Yummy!” Peter smiles, showing Stephen his empty plate along with his hands and face that’s littered with syrup.

“Got syrup on all over your face, Bunny,” Stephen laughs, grabbing a spare damp kitchen towel off the counter and wiping Peter’s face. “I think today you’re gonna go play outside. Does that sound like fun?” Peter nods excitedly but stops when Stephen fusses over him with the washcloth.

“Dad..” he whines and tries to get away from Stephen and the washcloth. He’s never liked his face being washed, hence his fussing with Stephen.

“I’m sorry, bunny, but we can’t have you getting everything all sticky with syrup. How about we go get you dressed and do your check too?” Because of Peter’s asthma, Tony and Stephen have begun to do regular check-ups throughout the day. It mainly just consists of them listening to his heart and lungs, and checking his oxygen levels.

Peter nods and watches as Stephen helps him down from his seat at the table and takes his plate to clear it away. “Can I go outside now?” He knows that Stephen and Tony have already told him he’ll be going out today, but he just wants to make sure as they always seem to be changing their minds. 

“You sure can, Hunny. But we’ll need to make sure your little lungs are okay.” He takes Peter’s hand and leads him out of the canteen, down to the ward.

Because Peter’s asthma can be persistent at times, they want to make sure he’s okay to head outside. Sure, it’s not Peter’s most favorite thing, but it has to be done.

There are days when Peter will get fed up with all the checks and have tantrums, which usually doesn’t end well for him or the caregivers. A lot of the times a tantrum happens when Peter isn’t allowed to go outside or do what the other littles are doing because it’s too strenuous, much like last week.

“Are you really sure I can go outside, Dad?” Peter asks with bright eyes looking up at Stephen. He wasn’t expecting the doctor to chuckle in response though, so he shares a pout with him when he does.

“Bunny, we’ll see. Daddy and I aren’t promising anything. If we don’t think your health is okay for being outside, then you won’t go out.” Stephen explain with a firm tone. He knows Peter will never like what he has to say, but it’s something that won’t change.

Peter pouts after the mention of possibly not going outside, but nonetheless follows after Stephen as to not chance losing outside time.

They soon get to the ward and Peter is guided by Stephen to one of the exam beds. They’re sectioned off by curtains, sometimes it’s a lot easier for the caregivers to tend to the littles when they’re all in one space. Especially if there’s a lot of them on the ward, it’s usually a rare occasion, but you never know these days.

Peter whines slightly when Stephen lifts him up and puts him on top of the bed. “Daddy, I wanna go outside!”

“Inside voice please.” Stephen requested and grabbed a blood pressure cuff. “Sweetie, I said maybe we’ll go outside. We don’t want you going out of your chest feels yucky, but so far everything looks promising.”

A common misconception with Littles and their Caregivers is when the Littles think one thing when the CGs said another, and Peter’s no exception to that. Every Little does it.

“How’s the patient?” Tony jokes when he comes on the ward that morning and sees the scowl on Peter’s face.

“Little grumpy, but for the most part I think he’ll be okay.” Stephen answers with a chuckle, pausing to tickle Peter for a moment. “He’s got good pressure and oxygen levels. I haven’t had a listen yet.”

“I’m fine.” Peter comments, probably with a bit more tone then he should’ve had. “Just wanna play, Daddies.”

Tony grabs his stethoscope and shakes his head, placing the earpieces in his ears. “And you probably will, but you need to let us do our job first. That involves making sure you’re healthy enough to go outside.”

Peter whines with a pout evident on his lips, yet nonetheless stays still and allows Tony to take a listen despite how utterly boring it is.

“Are you almost done?” He whines and shifts around on the exam bed. Apparently neither of his Daddies seem to understand how incredibly boring this is.

“Almost, but you need to stop talking so I can listen.” Tony sighs and holds Peter’s shoulder with his other hand. The boy frowns at that, yet does afterwards stay still so Tony can get a good listen to his chest.

Peter remains surprisingly still during the rest of his check, but both Daddies can tell he’s getting a little anxious about not being outside. Although it is short lived because the duo does finally deem Peter fit enough to go outside for the day.

“You need to listen to the Grown-ups that are out there today. If they feel that you have to go inside, then you have to go inside.” Stephen explains while getting Peter’s shoes and coat on.

“Yes, Dad. Wan’a go..” he whines and tries to tug away from Stephen.

“Baby, did you hear what I just said?” Stephen asks, however, Peter is already out the door with the rest of the Littles. The Doctor sighs, he can tell it’s gonna be a long day.

..

Peter is enjoying playing outside, soaking up the sun even in the slightly cooler weather. He’s been obeying the rules of the adults and not running around because of his asthma. He’s only had to take fw breaks once they CGs outside with him notice his breathing was becmoming a little laboured.

Yet now he’s back to freely playing on the playground with a small group of the other Littles.They're playing a game of hide and seek and Loki is currently the seeker.

Peter is about to go to what he believes is the perfect hiding spot when he suddenly trips and falls pretty hard onto the cement pathway, scraping both of his knees pretty hard despite wearing jeans. His lip quivers and he immediately begins to wail from the minor scrapes on his, but to a younger Little like him; everything hurts much more.

“Daddies!” He cries out even though they’re both inside.

Steve is one of the two nurses to go over to him after his sobs started, taking note of the blood oozing onto his jeans. “Shh, Honey. I’m gonna take you to your Daddies, just take some nice breaths for me.”

Peter continues to sniffle and eventually rests his head on the nurse’s shoulder once he starts to carry him to the ward. His knees ache really badly and now he’s injured, when all he wanted to do was play outside. It was fair.

Stephen, who’s sitting at the nurse’s station this afternoon, looks up once he hears the sound of crying from outside the ward doors. Steve enters after a few seconds carrying a still sobbing Peter in his arm.

The Doctor immediately gets up from his chair and goes over to them. “What happened?” He asks, following them over to an open bed on the ward.

“He tripped and fell on the cement outside. Not sure if he’s got any other injuries besides the scraped knees, but I think part of it is him being worked up from the fall.” The nurse injures and places Peter on the bed.

Stephen nods and tugs on a pair of gloves. He then grabs a pair of fabric scissors they keep in the ward, to cut Peter’s jeans off. It’s much easier than having to move him around to get out of the clothing. “Shh, Baby, you’re okay. I’m gonna make you feel better, just have to get this jeans off first.”

Peter sniffles when Stephen starts to cut the pair of jeans off of him. He didn’t understand why his Daddy had to cut them instead of just taking them off. “Hurts..” he whines.

“I know, Baby. I’m sorry you got hurt.” Stephen smiles and turns to Steve. “Do you mind getting me a small dose of pain relief?” The nurse nods and goes to grab the medicine from the locked medicine cart.

Stephen finally finishes cutting the rest of Peter’s jeans off and can finally see the damage. It’s really not all that bad, probably could do with just being cleaned and bandaged. There’s nothing in it from the pavement which is good.

“Doing so good, Baby.” Stephen smiles. He grabs some gauze alcohol to clean the scrape, but he won’t do that until Steve returns so Peter has some form of comfort.

Steve returns in no time with the dosage of pain relief, giving it to the boy who takes it with some protests. Although, the CG’s have never seen one of their Littles willingly take medicine.

“You doing good, Baby?” Stephen asks after a few minutes. The boy nods and continues with his tiny sniffling. “Uncle Steve’s gonna hold your hand while I clean your owie.”

“Is it go’na hurt?” The boy sniffles and grips onto Steve’s hand tightly, although it doesn’t necessarily pain the CG.

Stephen knows it’s better not to lie to Peter and say it won’t hurt, so he instead nods. “Yeah, it’ll hurt a bit, Baby.” He picks up one of the gauze squares and puts some alcohol on it, then he gently dabs it onto Peter’s wound.

The boy with the scraped knees stays silent for a good minute before he’s whining and soon letting the tears fall freely. “Hurts, Daddy..”

“I know, almost done, Baby.” Stephen explains and grabs a fresh gauze to start on the other knee. Because Peter is so worked up on the stinging pain from cleaning his other knee, he barely registers when Stephen cleans this one, although his breathing does pick up a little more.

“There.” He smiles and tosses his gloves out, slipping on a fresh pair. “Now we gonna put some medicine and bandages on them.” He shows Peter the Baby Pink bandages and the boy’s mood immediately lifts.

“Pretty, Dad.” He mumbles and lifts a finger to touch the bandage.

Stephen smiles. “Yes, they’re very pretty. But we don’t want to touch them once they’re on you, yeah?” Peter sniffles and nods, then keeps still so his Daddy can start to bandage his leg.

The doctor is quick to place an antibiotic ointment onto to the wound then grabs some gauze placing it on the scraped knee. He next grabs the pink bandage and wraps it around the gauze, finishing up then pulling his gloves off.

“There. Is that all better, Baby?”

Peter smiles and nods, then frowns. “It would be better if I got kissies.” He states and taps his cheek expectantly. Stephen chuckles and kisses the boy’s cheek like asked. His baby can have all the kisses he wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ask me questions about TLC on my tumblr - StarkerplusStrange


	3. Anaphylaxis (part one)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter suffers an anaphylactic episode after eating a beloved strawberry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!
> 
> Welcome to a two-part chapter where Peter has an allergic reaction after eating a strawberry.
> 
> A huge, huge thank you to my lovely darling [Rafni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/professional_benaddict) who helped me co-write this! Thank you babe!
> 
> Also not a doctor nor do I claim to be, so please don’t yell at me if things are wrong.

When Peter first came into the care of Stephen and Tony there was little to no medical history on the boy. It was quite frustrating for both of them, being caregivers and doctors, yet with some testing and searching for records they were able to figure a few things out. So when they became aware that Peter had a food allergy specifically to strawberries, They took extra precaution.

Because of said allergy, all caregivers were required to carry one of Peter’s prescribed epi-pen. Luckily a caregiver never strayed too far away from a little so if a reaction did happen, they were able to administer the epi-pen and get him safely to the ward.

Another rule put in place was that Peter wasn’t allowed to get any food from the older littles snack pantry, nor were other littles allowed to give him food without checking with a caregiver. He was strictly given food and drinks only by a caregiver, mainly Stephen or Tony since he was around them the most. 

Although the second rule was for all of the Littles. 

Each caregiver could recall a time where they had walked in to almost find Peter ingesting something strawberry. Luckily they were quick to grab it from him which resulted in tears from the little. He just didn’t understand why no one wanted him to have any of the delicious strawberries. But truly he knew that he had an allergy and could get really sick, yet the temptation was driving him crazy.

So he had eaten it wanting to find out what the fuss was about in his Little state of mind. He didn’t quite understand how severe his allergies were, just that he could get sick if he ate a strawberry.

Within seconds Peter began to feel strange. He started coughing and wheezing, clutching at his throat as he was unable to form any words to scream for help.

Some sort of miracle must’ve happened because Steve chose to walk in at that exact moment, with wide eyes and barely any time to react, yet immediately registering Peter is having an allergic reaction by the half-bitten strawberry that’s still in Peter’s hand.

He reaches into one of his scrubs pockets for Peter’s epi-pen and apologizes to the boy before injecting it into his thigh, rubbing the area for ten seconds. He also sends a quick emergency page to Stephen and Tony afterward.

When the two doctors arrive at the kitchen, they’re not expecting to see an almost unconscious Peter on the floor with a strawberry still clutched in his hand, his fingers turning red from the fruit. They drop their bags of equipment and start to assess him.

“Baby, can you hear us?” Stephen asks and sets up an oxygen mask. There’s no verbal response from Peter of course, but the boy does continue wheezing which isn’t good. The younger of the two doctors sighs and places the mask around Peter’s face, holding it there.

“I really don’t want to have to intubate him.” Toby grumbles and works with Stephen. Peter was already given a dose of epinephrine so hopefully he’ll become more stable.

“Poor, Baby.” Stephen frowns, taking full notice of Peter’s state. “He’s all swollen and broken out.”

“I’d really hate for him to have to be intubated.” Tony grumbles and switches positions with Stephen. “Yeah, me too.” The younger Doctor replies. “But it might be for the better if he can’t breathe and depending on how severe the reaction is.”

Once Stephen and Tony more or less get Peter stabilized, they dismiss Steve and are quick to transport him to the ward or so they thought. While they’re passing through the hallways of Meadowville, Peter’s vitals begin to drop drastically.

“Shit.” Stephen curses and drops the bag on his shoulder, starting to grab the necessary things for intubation. “Babe, we’ve got to intube him right here, right now.

Tony grumbles a curse under his breath and quickly pages for more staff to help them out. He hits the breaks on the gurney while Stephen gets all the equipment laid out. Grabbing the laryngoscope, Stephen tilts Peter’s head back and eases the blade of the scope into his throat, then inserts the trachea tube.  
“Bag him.” Stephen says to Tony, who quickly grabs an ambu bag and attaches it to the end of the tube.

Steve is the nurse to answer the page, considering he was the closest, and rushes over to help them. “What happened?” He wonders and takes over pumping the ambu bag for Tony.  
“His vitals dropped a lot.” The doctor answers grimly. “So we’re intubating him.”

“If we had waited another minute we would probably have had to do a trache instead.” Stephen grimaces and takes his stethoscope to check the boy’s breath sounds. Meanwhile, Tony checks Peter’s pupils.  
“They are even and reacting. He wasn’t long without oxygen though, right?” Tony asks, putting his penlight back.

“No. I noticed right away.” Stephen answers through his listening. “We’re going to put him on the ventilator anyways.” He pulls back and quickly swings his stethoscope around his neck.  
“How’s vitals looking?” He asks and looks over towards Steve.

“O2 stats at 95% and heart rate at 93. He’s all right.” Steve says and so Tony opens the breaks on the gurney once more. While Steve continues to bag Peter, the doctors continue wheeling him to the ward on the gurney.

It’s a sight to see for anyone who may be wondering in the hallways during that time, especially the Littles. And exactly that happens when Loki watches with wide eyes as the three CGs and Peter on the gurney pass by.  
“What’re you doing?” He nearly accuses the doctors and tugs on Stephen’s scrubs to get him to stop.

Letting Steve and Tony bring Peter along, Stephen halts by Loki and crouches down to the boy’s level.  
“Peter had a bad allergic reaction, but we are going to take care of him. I know it looks bad, but we have this under control.” The doctor explains simply and calmly.

But Loki isn’t having it and continues to accuse the Doctor of hurting Peter. “You did it.” He pouts and turns away from Stephen.  
The doctor frowns, unsure of what the boy is talking about. “Buddy, I don’t understand. What did I do?”  
“You hurt Peter on purp’se!” He shouts and stomps his foot at the Doctor frustratingly.

“Loki, now that’s just mean.” Stephen frowns. “I’d never hurt Peter on purpose, nor anyone else for that matter. What we did to Peter, we had to do to help him. Trust me, bud, I know these things.” The doctor continues explaining, but he then rises up to his full height, which is an implicit hint that this conversation is over. Loki huffs a little dramatically, still convinced that the grown ups are in the wrong.

With a shake of his head, Stephen casts one final glance towards Loki and turns around, heading back in the direction of the ward.  
He realizes the Littles can make up some of the craziest things at times, but when they’re accusations against him or other CGs, it hurts.  
Once he gets to the ward, he sees that Peter is already hooked up to the ventilator.  
“Where were you?” Tony asks from his spot where he’s connecting Peter to the monitors again.

“Loki got all upset and accused me of some stuff.” Stephen chuckles a bit, trying to brush off the whole incident. He needs to focus on Peter now. “How is he?”  
“More or less okay. We’re starting the treatments now to counteract the reaction. His vitals are okay, but he’s clearly under stress still.”

“At least his vitals are good.” Stephen comments and decides to update Peter’s chart since the more physical part is being taken care of by Tony and Steve.  
“Guess now would be as good as any to possibly implement some new rules. I don’t know what possessed Peter to eat that strawberry.” Tony sighs. He knows the Littles boy understand what being allergic to something is and the aftermath of it, so why he chose to eat it is beyond him.

“Yeah, definitely.” Stephen agrees with a hum while getting a pen out to write on Peter’s chart. “He’s in for one hell of a lecture once he comes back around.” The doctor sighs a bit.  
Once Peter is stable and fully supported and monitored, Steve and Tony start working on setting the boy up for the stay on the ward. They cut off his clothes and then tuck some blankets around him, making sure to pull them up to his chest so he doesn’t get cold.

“Definitely.” Tony agrees and continues to finish up with Steve. “We can’t have him thinking he can just get away with whatever, especially when this endangers his health.”  
Stephen does not make any verbal response and instead just nods his head, focusing on filling in Peter’s chart.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to either of the doctors, while they’re finishing up with getting Peter situated for an overnight stay on the ward, someone is waiting right outside the ward for them. That someone is Loki, who still seems frustrated with the two CGs and believes they purposely hurt Peter. It isn’t fair.

“Will you stay the night then?” Stephen asks, walking next to his partner out of the ward now that Peter is all set up. The boy will remain unconscious for a while longer, so they have time to eat before that. 

“Yeah, sure. And you don’t have to make breakfast for me when I get off. I’ll just head right to bed.” Tony says, pushing open the two main doors that lead to the ward.  
“Not even coffee? That’s not like you.” Stephen starts, but then yelps out when he feels a dull pain in his shin.

Looking down towards his shin, the doctor notices Loki standing there with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed. It’s only best to assume that Loki was the one who kicked him since no one else seems to be around.  
“Loki. That wasn’t very nice.” Stephen comments and rubs at his shin, hoping that’ll appease the boy but it doesn’t.

“You’re not nice to Peter.” The boy shoots back and hops back a bit, just in case the doctors will try to grab him. He knows he is toeing the line, but he doesn’t care. “You hurt him!”

“Buddy.” Tony sighs and crouches down to be more level with Loki. “We didn’t hurt Peter, we were helping him. He was very sick, sweetheart.” He knows that some of the Littles accidentally seeing procedures on their friends might be cause for some trouble, but he never thought it’d be this bad.  
Apparently that’s not a good enough answer for Loki as the boy growls, reaching forward to swat and kick at the doctors again.

“Hey- Loki! Stop that, now.” Tony says louder, taking the boy’s wrist and then trying to grab the other. But, Loki is like a wiggling fish or snake in his grip, and he manages to wiggle free. He breaks into a run down the hall, forcing the doctors to follow him.  
“Loki! Come back here, now.” Stephen called out.

“No! You hurt Peter!” The boy shouts and continues to run away from the two doctors. For anyone in the nearby vicinity, it must be confusing as to what’s going on.  
“Should we page Thor?” Tony asks and jogs after Loki.  
Stephen thinks for a moment and shakes his head. “No, he’s in surgery so maybe we could try and handle it ourselves?”

“We might live to regret that.” Tony chuckles, but then makes a sharp turn when Loki runs around the corner. “Jeez- how is he so fast?”  
“Loki! This is your final warning.” Stephen calls out. “Stop right now!”  
But, the boy doesn’t stop till he has to. He reaches a dead end when he runs to the left, which leads to a supply closet that’s locked. The boy tries to open the door, but quickly gives up and turns around to see the two doctors walking towards him.

“No no.” Loki gasps out tries to scramble away from the doctors, but it’s not use since he’s basically cornered from the dead end.  
Tony takes this opportunity to be calm with Loki, knowing it could setback his mood. He gives the boy a warm smile and crouches in front of him. “Loki, that wasn’t very nice what you did to Steph or I. We do not hit our friends, I know your Daddy has taught you that.”  
But Loki isn’t having it.

“But- but, you hurt Peter! Is not fair!” The boy argues back. To him, what he did was just payback for what they did to Peter. They are all even, but the doctors don’t agree with that.  
“Loki, I know what you saw us do to Peter was scary, but I promise you we did it to help him. He’s on the ward right now and he’s gonna be okay.” Stephen explains calmly.

“What’s not okay is to hit and kick people.” Tony adds.  
Loki looks down frustrated. Deep down he really knows that the doctors did all this to help Peter, but his mind still just believes they hurt Peter. In a quick split decision, he places both his hands on his doctors chest and tries to push them.

Tony is way quicker though, and he takes Loki around his wrists to stop him. The boy tries to wiggle away again, but the doctor manages to twist him around and hold the boy to his front. Loki’s arms are crossed over his front, and he yelps when Tony holds his arms back. The boy is immobilised, but he isn’t ready to surrender yet.  
“No- no! No! Let me go!”

He wiggles around and lifts one of his legs up, trying to kick back at the doctors but his attempts are futile the duo expertly dodges each kick.  
“Loki, calm down.” Stephen speaks softly yet with a stern tone behind it. “We just want to help you, that’s all.”

Loki grunts in response and tries to wiggle free once more, but Tony won’t let him go. Letting out a frustrated whine, the boy flops back with a dramatic pout.  
“Are you ready to talk now?” Tony asks calmly, loosening his grip just a bit on the boy, but not enough so that he can run off again.

“Y-yes.. but let me go.” The boy whines and sighs when Tony does finally release him. However, this time the two CGs kneel in a way that Loki can’t run off before they have a chat.  
“We just want to talk to you, Loki. That’s all.” Stephen comments and sits down next to the boy, giving him a warm smile. “We didn’t do anything to hurt Peter. He had a really bad accident and we had to help him quickly.”

“But- but, why did you put /that/ inside him like that? It looked like it hurt.” Loki tries to explain and shows with his hands how Tony had intubated Peter on the gurney in the hallway.  
“Peter had an allergic reaction, which means he ate something that his body can’t handle. And when that happens, your throat can swell up real bad, so that you can’t breathe. What Tony did, is that he put a tube in Peter’s throat so that he could breathe still.”

Loki whimpers and nods, sniffling a bit. “Okay.. as long as Peter’s okay and you weren’t hurting him.”  
Tony smiles. “Yes he’s fine, Buddy, we weren’t hurting him either. Now we need to talk about something that wasn’t okay.”

“Even if you’re upset and scared, hurting others by kicking and hitting is never okay.” Tony adds with just a bit of sternness in his voice. But, the doctor keeps it to a minimal, because the boy is still clearly upset. “What you do instead, is that you tell someone. You talk about how you’re feeling, without hurting others.”  
“But, that’s hard.” Loki says glumly. “I don’t know how.”

“We can help show you how.” Stephen answers this time. “And I’m sure your Daddy will help you too. We all just want the best for you, Lo.” He smiles and ruffles the boys hair a bit, just enough to let the boy know that they’re still remaining serious.  
At the mention of Thor, Loki frowns. “You’re not gonna tell me Daddy ‘bout this, are you?”

“Lo, we have to, I’m afraid. He needs to know everything that’s going on with you cause he’s your Daddy.” Tony says honestly.  
Loki lowers his head at that in defeat and embarrassment. Of course they have to tell him, but he is not happy about it.  
“M’okay.” The boy mumbles.

After a few minutes of silence, Stephen stands up and holds out his hand for Loki to take. “Why don’t we go to the canteen while we wait for your Daddy? Hmm?”  
Loki sniffles a bit and accepts the doctors hand, nodding his head. “Okay.. sorry I hurt you.”

“You’re forgiven, Lo.” Stephen smiles warmly, squeezing the boy’s tiny hand in his to emphasise his point. “Thank you for apologising. That was really good of you.”  
Loki blushes a light pink at that and turns his head away. He is still quite embarrassed over everything, and particularly about the fact that his Daddy will know all about this. But, he feels okay still, knowing that he can still make things right.

“Can you think of what you’d like for a snack?” Tony asks from behind the duo, hoping to ease the boys mind off everything a bit. It’s never good for Little’s to be under a tremendous amount of stress.  
Loki turns his head to look back at the older doctor and shakes his head. “No.”

The doctors exchange a look when they hear Loki’s tone. They agree not to push him further, and just let him be while they walk to the canteen. Opening up the double doors, Tony lets Loki go in first and watches him skip over to his friends by the Little table. Meanwhile, the doctors head to the CG table where Thor is sat, talking to Nat.

“I was wondering where he was.” Thor comments, but then takes notice of the solemn expression on the doctor's face. “Is everything alright?”  
Stephen sighs and takes a seat directly across from Thor. “There was a bit of.. an incident.”

“We had just set up Peter on the ward, and then when we went to leave, Loki stood right outside and jumped on us.” Tony recaps while Thor’s face grows more and more concerned. “Yeah, he was really upset and kicked both me and Steph. No harm done, of course, but...” 

“Did you talk to him after?” Thor asks, leaning over to be closer to the doctors.

“Yeah.” The younger answers. “We finally got him to calm down after he kicked off for a bit more. Tony actually had to restrain him slightly since he was pushing us.”

Thor glances over at Loki who’s sitting at the Little’s table, with a slight frown on his face. “Alright, thanks guys. I’m still gonna talk with him and let him know this behavior isn’t okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the second part to this chapter where Peter will wake up!


	4. Anaphylaxis (part two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this second part, Peter wakes up and gets his breathing tube removed.

It’s a few hours later after the allergic reaction and Loki’s incident. The two doctors are taking some time to decompress in the staff lounge, however, it seems at that same time is when Peter wakes up.  
At first the Little boy is unaware he’s on the ward, but then he becomes even more concerned when he realizes he can’t talk.

His body feels heavy, and so his unability to move makes Peter even more worked up. He blinks mulitple times and looks around to try and orientate himself, but all he sees is the blank and white ceiling. There’s something in his mouth, something inside of him, and Peter begins to choke and breathe unevenly.

Steve, who’s working at the nurse’s station, glances up when he hears the choking sound and quickly rushes over to Peter’s beside, surprised to see the boy awake.

“Hi, Peter.” Steve gently smiles. “Shh.. Settle down, you’re okay. You gave everyone quite a scare.” He brushes some of the boys curls out of the way.

Peter settles a bit when Steve appears, but the nurse’s presence isn’t totally comforting still. He wants his Daddies, and he tries to say that, but he is unable to with whatever is in his mouth.   
The boy reaches a hand up to try and see what’s in his mouth, but Steve takes his hand before he can touch anything.

“No don’t touch it, Bud. It’s helping you right now. I know it’s scary, but it’s helping you breathe.” Steve reassures gently and keeps a hold on Peter’s hand so they boy can’t touch anything. “Why don’t we see about calling your Daddies, hm?”

Calling his Daddies? Does that man his Daddies left him? Peter lets his mind wander with all those thoughts and zones out from Steve.

Only then does Peter notice how icky he feels. He feels scratchy and itchy all over, so he tries to move his limbs to itch, but he can’t find the strength. In addition, his throat feels warm and throbs a bit. What happened to him, Peter wonders as tears start to fill his eyes.

“Peter, sweetheart.” Steve calls back after he sent a page to both Stephen and Tony. “You okay?”  
Peter looks over to the nurse with his tear filled eyes and finally lets them spill, along with shaking his head since he can’t properly speak.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, handsome. This really isn’t your day, huh?” Steve consoles and starts stroking Peter’s cheeks with his thumbs.  
The boy continues to cry, and his brows knit together in a pained expression, but no sound comes out of him. “Your Daddies are on their way. You’re being so brave, sweetheart.”

The only thing Peter can do is continue to lay there crying and make grabby hands until his Daddies come.

“Shh, you’re alright.” The nurse soothes and continues with calming Peter down. He takes a glance at the heart monitor when it goes off and sees that Peter has had a spike in his heart rate.  
“You’re getting yourself all worked up, Little Guy. Shh..”

Steve continues to guide Peter to breathe calmly and stay relaxed, but the boy is clearly very stressed. The Daddies’ final appearence actually just makes matters worse, and Peter’s heart rate and breathing picks up once more when he sees them. 

“Hey, hey, baby. We’re here now, it’s okay.” Stephen coos and strokes Peter’s hair back to sooth him.

Peter whimpers and leans into Stephen as much as he can with all the tubes and wires on him.  
“You’re okay, Baby.” Stephen smiles and keeps his hold on Peter to give him some comfort. 

Because of Peter’s background at his previous care home, it’s always important for the Daddies to be extra cautious when they’re on the ward or doing basic checkups. They’ve built a sort of bond overtime.

But, still that bond is fragile, so Stephen and Tony take their time comforting Peter and help him calm down without sedatives.  
They want the boy to learn that he is safe and taken care of, and sedatives would ruin such an experience. 

“Shh, shh, just relax, baby. Feel your breath in your tummy. Breathe with you tummy.” Tony says softly and strokes lightly at Peter’s bare stomach to encourage him to breathe more deeply.

Peter does follow his Daddies encouragement and begins to take some deep breaths, albeit they’re shaky, it’s still a start.

“We’re so proud of you, Petey. You’re Daddies little brave boy, aren’t you?” Stephen smiles and continues soothing Peter as best as he can with Tony.

Once Peter is calm enough, Stephen and Tony start explaining to him what happened. Now and then, the boy’s heart rate picks up again, and so the doctors pause to sooth the boy again before continuing.   
They choose their words carefully so that they are as gentle as possible while also making it clear that Peter has to remain calm and still while he is on the ventilator.

“You’re okay though, Baby.” Stephen continually reassures after they’ve told Peter about what happened. “But Daddy and I need to have a serious talk with you, Sweetheart.”

Tony takes this opportunity to sit near Peter, then turns to look at Stephen. “What do you say? Think he’s good enough to come off the vent?”  
The younger doctor glances at the monitors. All of the boys vitals seem well within stable range and he seems to be breathing good.

The swelling has also gone down, thanks to the medications, so the boy is as ready as he can be. 

“Yeah, I think so. We need Thor or Steve to come help us. Can you page one of them?” Stephen asks his partner, who nods in reply and gets his pager out.   
Sensing that something is happening, Peter swats his hand against his Daddy’s, then looks at him demandingly.

“You’re alright, Baby.” Stephen smiles. “We’re gonna get the nasty tube out of your throat.” 

Hearing mention of the tube, Peter whimpers slightly and shakes his head. He knows his Daddies are completely different people from the old CGs at his previous care-home, but he sometimes still gets afraid. Especially when he wakes up alone on the ward.

“I know this is scary, but Daddy and I do this all the time. We’ve trained lots at this, so it will be just fine. We’ll take care of you.” Stephen assures, kissing Peter’s forehead comfortingly. But, the boy still grows a bit nervous and antsy as he watches his Daddies prepare some stuff on and around him.

It’s not much longer before one of the nurses comes waltzing into the ward, that nurse being Thor.   
He gives a gentle wave and smile to Peter upon arriving by his bedside. “Hi, Buddy. I heard you had a really bad scare earlier. You doing okay now?”

Peter nods as much as he can and waves back at the nurse. He wants to tell Thor just how awful his day has been so far, and he is itching to do so, but of course he can’t. So, all he can do is look pleadingly at Thor and hope the Daddies hurry up. 

Getting his stethoscope, Stephen starts listening to Peter’s lungs, both in the front, and then in the back.

Peter surprisingly frowns once Stephen starts checking him over with the stethoscope. He just wants to get this tube out of him as soon as possible and his Daddies are taking ages.  
“What’s the matter, Punpkin?” Tony asks, having noticed the pout on Peter’s face. “Are we taking too long for you? Sorry, Sweetheart.”

They are definitely taking too long, or that is until everything is moving too fast, at least for Peter. But, actually the Daddies take their time. They deflate the balloon keeping the tube in place using a syringe, then prepare Peter for the next step. 

Suddenly, Peter doesn’t feel ready at all, and the coughs triggered by the tube being removed catches him off guard.

“You’re alright.” Stephen reassures and helps to get the tube removed. “Can you give us some nice coughs, Sweetie? It’ll help get the tube out.”  
Peter whimpers, but does what his Daddies says. This is still way different from when he was at the care home.

Hacking with coughs, Peter doubles over as Stephen pulls the tube out fully, but Tony guides him to lay back again quickly while covering the boy’s nose and mouth with an oxygen mask. 

During the whole commotion, Peter starts crying softly while he continues to cough and catch his breath. The older doctor shushes him softly.   
“You were so good, baby, it’s okay... it’s okay.”

Because Peter no longer has the breathing tube in, he has able to make slight noises now, although his throat seems sore and dry from having the tube in. “Mmh..” he mumbles and reaches out towards Tony, who leans down to hold him.

“Hi, sweetheart. You did so well.” He praises and gets the mask fully strapped onto his face, but it seems that Peter has other plans about that.

“Nuu...” Peter mumbles and coughs again while trying to push the mask away. But, Tony doesn’t give in, and puts a hand on the boy’s forehead to keep him still and comfort him. Peter whimpers again, and tosses his head to the side to avoid the mask.   
“O2 stats are dropping a bit.” Stephen points out.

Tony takes a glance at the monitor and sighs, grabbing the mask again. “Baby, you need the mask.” He places it back on Peter’s face and is grateful when his oxygen levels start to climb back up after a few seconds, but as soon as he takes his hands away it doesn’t last that way.

“Baby, baby- I’m serious, you have to let the mask be.” Tony says and places his hand on Peter’s forehead again while he holds the mask with the other.  
The boy whimpers and squirms under him, like he is still trying to get away.   
“Peter, settle down now.” Stephen adds and rubs at Peter’s thigh.

With the stern voices of his Daddies and one of them holding the mask to his forehead, Peter whines but obeys finally.  
“Thank you, Sweetheart.” Tony smiles and continues to hold the oxygen mask to Peter for the time being, just until he’s sure Peter won’t remove it again. “We just want to help, that’s all. And this oxygen mask will certainly help.”

Eventually, Peter does succumb and allows his Daddies to leave the oxygen mask on him once he realizes it’s helping him to breathe better. His Daddies did also end up having a discussion about eating things that he knows he shouldn’t, hence why he got into this situation in this first place.

“We love you, Bunny, and just want the best for you. Stephen smiles, resting a kiss onto Peter’s forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure when they next update will be, but thank you for all you support on this AU.
> 
> Stay safe, healthy, and be kind.
> 
> \- Ali


	5. Peter’s story (part one)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback scene for Peter on how he came to Meadowvile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Here’s a three part chapter on Peter’s story. It is a flashback scene on how Peter came to Meadowvile and meet Stephen and Tony.

Peter laid on the bed in his room at the care room and tried to breathe. He didn’t know what was happening, but his chest just felt tight and funny. The staff in the care home were trying to get him to take medicine, but he didn’t want any.

“Sweetie, please. You need to take it.” Quentin practically begged and shoved the inhaler near Peter’s mouth.

“N-no!” Peter managed to stutter out, but that was about it before he had to focus on trying to breathe again. 

He put a hand up to block Quentin’s and held it there with all his strength. 

“Peter, I swear to God, if you don’t take your medicine, you might just die. And I’m not kidding.” Quentin threatened, which was half true. Still, it was not the appropriate way to talk to a Little.

Peter whimpered and covered his mouth with his hands so Quentin couldn’t force him to take his medicine. The boy continued to keep shaking his head, unable to calm down. “D-d-on’t wan-t it!” He protested in shaky breaths.

“Peter, come on. Just open up and take your medicine already. You’re wasting everyone else’s time by acting so stupidly.” Quentin argued and took Peter around his wrists and pushed him back on his bed.

The boy protested loudly and cried, which only made his wheezing worse and he finally became a bit still as the lack of oxygen really started to kick in. 

In the doorway, one of the other care-home workers sighed.  
“Just call an ambulance already. Let them take care of him instead. It will be so much easier.”

Quentin sighs and releases his taught grip on the boy’s wrist, allowing the boy to fall back on his bed. “Fine, but he needs to learn not to be so damn disrespectful.” The breathy gasps are still heard when the pair leaves the room.

By the time the EMTs arrive at the care-home, Peter has a blue tinge around his lips due to lack of oxygen.

“What happened?” The EMT, who previously introduced himself as Rhodey, asks.

“I-I’m not sure.” Quentin explains. “I found him like this, tried to get him to take his inhaler but he refused. He even pushed me that I nearly fell over.” Sure it’s a stretch, but Rhodey doesn’t need to know that.

“Where’s the inhaler now?” Rhodey asks and Quentin points to the small device on Peter’s bedside table. Setting his bag down, Rhodey sits down on the boy’s bedside and takes the inhaler. “Hi, my name’s Rhodes, but most call me Rhodey. What’s your name, handsome?” 

“P-Pete’...” Peter replies quietly and coughs again harshly. Rhodey frowns at the sound since he has never heard of such a bad asthma attack ever. At the back of his mind, he wonders if the CGs actually did a good enough job at persuading the boy to use his inhaler.

“Peter? Oh that’s a lovely name. Does your chest feel pretty yucky?”

Peter sniffles and nods, rubbing at his eyes as he takes another gasp for air. Rhodey frowns. “Yeah? We’ll I’m gonna do my best to help you feel better. First I’m gonna start by something that’ll help you breathe a bit better, it’s called oxygen. Have you heard that word before?”

While he waits for Peter’s answer, he takes to setting up an oxygen mask and gently places it over the boy’s face. “There, does that feel good?”

However it seems that Quentin isn’t quite finished. “Rhodey, I’m sure all this isn’t necessary. Just tell him to take the inhaler so we can all move on with our day.”

At first Peter is a bit frightened of the mask that is placed on his face, but his body quickly draws in a breath nonetheless, or at least tries to.

The relieving effect is nearly instant and Peter relaxes a bit as he breathes a little easier, but still his wheezing is pretty bad. 

“Mr, Beck.” Rhodey starts, not at all pleased with the CGs tone. “Would you mind stepping out of the room for a few moments? My partner and I need some space to work.”

At first Quentin is hesitant to leave, not wanting to just leave Peter alone. However, after seeing the faces on the EMTS, he knows he has no choice.

Rhodey smiles once Quentin has left the room and continues to focus on Peter. His partner, Happy, has taken to putting a pulse oximeter onto Peter, but also wanting a manual reading he checks the too. 

Sliding Peter’s sleeves up to access his wrist, the man frowns when he sees a red mark the wraps around both of his wrists.

“Rhodes, come here.” He gives Peter a reassuring smile, but the boy doesn’t seemed to bothered anyways

Rhodey tries not to sigh nor harder his face at seeing the marks on the boy’s wrists. They look like rope burns, and he highly doubts it is due to any sort of play between the Littles. No, his suspicions are much darker and concerns the CGs and their practices. But, for now the EMTs try to focus on the task at hand.

“Okay, Peter, we’re gonna use your inhaler now. You can keep the nice mask, but we have to use this to feel better, okay?” Rhodey persuades kindly, and this time Peter nods. Besides, he doesn’t have much oxygen left to fight with. 

“T-tas’te funny...” Peter stutters a bit while Rhodey takes his mask off while shaking the inhaler.

“Yeah?” He questions. If Peter says that the inhaler tastes funny, then the CGs probably aren’t giving it to him properly. He has half a mind to call the authorities, but right now his focus remains on Peter.

He puts the inhaler to the boy’s mouth and instructs him to breathe in, as he pushes down to give him the medicine.

“There, we’ll give that few minutes to work, but let’s put the mask back on. Have you ever been in an ambulance before, Hunny?” It’s more than clear that they’ll have to take him somewhere to be treated.

“N-no, but- but saw it on TV.” Peter stutters out in between coughs, his voice small and weak due to all the coughing. “Quen’in coming too?” The boy asks.

Although the CG isn’t a good one, he is still the one that Peter is closest to. 

“No, honey, I’m sorry. It’s just gonna be us for now, but we can see him later.” Rhodey promises vaguely. 

Based on his few observations of the care-home and its residents, the EMT doesn’t feel comfortable with letting the CG come along now. Perhaps the police can work it out later.

Peter whimpers at the mention of the CG not being allowed to come, but nonetheless nods.

“I can get him loaded into the ambulance. You want to call Meadowville?” Happy asks but knows full-well that a high care facility is probably best for him right now.

“Yeah. I’m sure Stephen wouldn’t mind taking a look at him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tune in tomorrow for the second part where Peter will arrive at Meadowvile.


	6. Peter’s story (part two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two to Peter’s story where he arrives at Meadowvile and meets the team there.

So while Happy gets Peter adjusted onto the gurney, Rhodey makes a call to Greenport.  
“Hi, I’m trying to reach Doctor Stephen Strange. It’s an emergency.”

The receptionist at the other side tells Rhodey to hold on for a moment, and soon enough the line connects to a silky baritone voice. 

“Doctor Strange speaking.” 

“Hey, it’s Rhodey. Happy and I have a Little with us who’s suffered from a severe asthma attack. He’s coming down now after using the inhaler, but he still isn’t looking too good. We also- we also have some suspicions about abuse.” The EMT says the last point a bit more quietly in case Quentin or the others are nearby.

He can hear a sigh come from the other side of the line. “Alright, bring him in. I’ll be standing by for you guys. What’s his stats look like?”

“They’re pretty good, although his oxygen is still a little low with a mask on. Plus his heart rate is all over the place, again, to be expected.”  
He tries to give Stephen as much information as he can about the boy over the phone, yet it’s quite difficult when the CGs at the care home are tight lipped.

They chat for a few more minutes before hanging up. By that time, Happy has already finished setting Peter up and has taken him to the ambulance. Rhodey packs up the bags and heads out of the care home, however, he’s stopped by a certain CG.

“What’re you doing! You can’t take him!” It’s Quentin.

Rhodey sighs and turns around to face the man. “He’s in respiratory distress, so yes, we’re taking him.”

“But-”

“We’ll be in touch with you, Mister Quentin.”  
With that he heads out of the care home and to the back of the ambulance, where Happy is struggling to get an IV in Peter.

“Don’ like pokes.” He whimpers.

“Sweetie, it’s going to help you. And it’ll be easier for the doctors to give you any medicine.”

At the mention of Doctors, Peter begins to shake his head more. “No doc’s, please. I’ll get the nee’le, but no doc’s.” He sniffles. He’s had bad experiences with Doctors that have come to the care home, which has led him to have a fear of Doctors.

“Honey, we have to get you checked out. You’re not doing too good, and there’s some nice nurses and doctors waiting to make you feel better.” Rhodey explains patiently, but still Peter squirms and whimpers as the EMT pushes the needle into his hand. 

“No! No, no! I wanna go ho-ome!” Peter cries, but the IV is already in and taped securely.

Rhodey shakes his head sadly. “I’m sorry, Buddy, but I can’t let you go home. You’re gonna go meet some nice doctors and nurses, and they’ll help you feel better. Maybe you’ll even meet some friends to play with.” He smiles and checks Peter’s vitals once more. The boy still has the oxygen mask on, but his upset isn’t helping much. 

Soon enough the ambulance pulls into a gated area with a long driveway, leading up to a building that looks much like a hospital.  
“Don’t want the Doc’ors!” Peter cries.

“Buddy, buddy, what’s got you so upset? Why don’t you want to see the doctors?” Rhodey asks, but Peter is unable to put into words what he is feeling inside. His heart pounds and his breathing starts to pick up again, which makes him cough. 

A moment later, Happy comes around and opens the back doors and starts to wheel the gurney out. Peter’s eyes go wide with fear when he sees a doctor in a white lab coat by the entrance to the mysterious building.

“Nooo..” he whines when he sees that they’re heading inside towards the Doctor. 

“Shh, you’re okay. These Doctors will never hurt you.” Rhodey smiles sadly and opens the door once they’re buzzed in.

Now inside, Peter can see the Doctor much clearer.  
“Hi Sweetie, my names Doctor Strange but you can call me Stephen. Can you tell me what’s bothering you?”

“No, no no!” Peter begins to cry.

Stephen sends a questioning look over towards the two EMTs who only shrug back, both unsure of the sudden upset. “Hey, it’s all right. Tell me what’s on your mind, we’ll listen to you.” Stephen says and gestures for the EMTs pause with the gurney. If they want a chance at treating the boy, they must calm him first. At least they should try talking before using sedatives. 

“I- don’ wanna! I- can’t- I won’t- no!” Peter stammers nervously and pulls at the straps keeping him down on the gurney. 

“Hey, hey, we’re not here to harm you, buddy. We’re going to help you. Will you let us do that, please?”

“B-but you hurt me!” Peter cries, not being able to differentiate the difference between the Care Home doctors and the ones here at Meadow-ville. 

Stephen frowns. It’s not often that they get abused Littles here at the facility, but when they do, it’s never an easy experience for anyone.  
He crouches to Peter’s level on the gurney. “Sweetie, those were different Doctors, not the ones here at Meadow-ville. We’d never hurt you or even thinking of doing it. Now, can you let us help you get better?”

After awhile Peter sniffles and gives the Doctor a small nod.

“Great. Now we’re going to go upstairs and you’ll meet some of my friends. They want to help you feel better too.”

While they head up to the ward, Stephen goes through the abuse protocol in his head. They’ll have to carry out a head to toe exam of the boy, and get his mental state evaluated as well. But, for now they’ll focus on the asthma attack. 

“Wan’ Quen’in...” Peter whimpers as they head up and the boy sees more and more of the medical environment. It freaks him out and he just wants to go home already.

“He’s at the Care Home. Maybe you’ll be able to see him later.” Rhodey assures but knows that with the possible abuse speculation that it probably won’t happen.

“Quentin?” Stephen wonders confused. “Who’s that?”

“We believe it’s either his CG or someone who just works at the facility.” Happy answers.

“He needs to be questioned.” Rhodey grumbles. “No doubt he’s saying all sorts of nasty things to Peter. He tried telling me that the treatment wasn’t necessary and that we were basically wasting everyone’s time.”

“We’ll he’s safe here. No one can just walk in here.” Stephen assures. They’ll have more than enough time to dwell on the problems later.

Up on the ward, Tony and Nat are waiting and wave at the little boy being wheeled in on the gurney. Seeing even more medical staff freaks Peter out again and he twists on the gurney in an attempt to get away.  
“Noo! No hurt! P’ease!” Peter begs through shuddering breaths through the mask, but his protests are left short when he gets another coughing fit.

.“Shhh, you’re okay. Let’s take some nice deep breaths.” Stephen instructs and imitates breathing in and out until the boy starts to follow along. “Like I’ve said, no one here is going to hurt you. Everybody just wants to make sure you get better.”

“Not going to pull me and hurt me like other Doctors? Sometimes they gave me owies.” He sniffles and goes to remove the mask so he can wipe his nose, but is stopped by Stephen.

.“No, we’re not going to hurt you. We might have to do some unpleasant things, but nothing should hurt.” Stephen assures, making a mental note on everything the boy is saying. 

Coming over to a free bed, the EMTs help the other medical professionals with getting their patient on the bed. Peter whimpers again, but settles a bit when he feels how soft the bed is. He can’t remember the last time he actually had a comfortable bed.  
“Thanks, guys.” Stephen smiles to the EMTs, then gets to work on Peter.

“No problem.” Rhodey smiles. “We’ll leave the information that we know on the nurses desk.”

“Alright, Little Mister. Let’s see what’s going on with you. Can I put some stickers on your chest to tell me how fast your heart is beating?” Stephen asks and takes the clothing scissors from Nat. Once he gets Peter’s nod of approval, he places the scissors at the bottom of Peter’s shirt and starts to cut.

“No!” A loud scream interrupts him. “Don’t want to take my clothes off for Doc’ors.”  
Stephen shares a look with Tony, who’s starting to look a little frustrated. He knows how his partner can get when it comes to Littles that are being or have been abused.

“Okay, okay. How about we make a deal? You’ll take your shirt off yourself and then also put this gown on, while we have our backs turned. We won’t peak, promise.” Stephen bargains and after some consideration, Peter nods slowly. Stephen smiles widely at that and hands him the gown. A bit of independence goes a long way sometimes. 

All the caregivers turn around while Peter changes, and once he is done, the boy tells the others with a small voice. Stephen comes over immediately and presses the oxygen mask back on his face.  
“Good boy, good boy.”

Peter smiles and starts to relax, however, he becomes alert when the other doctor comes over as well.

“Hi, Hunny. My names Tony. Can I take a listen to your heart with my stethoscope?”  
Peter whimpers but decides that the Doctor seems nice enough, so he nods.

“Great.” Tony removes his stethoscope that’s hanging around his neck and places the diaphragm over the cotton fabric of the gown. “Can you take some deep breaths in?” He asks and moves the stethoscope.

Peter whimpers while clutching onto the bed, but still does the instruction that the doctor asked for.

When Tony moves onto his lungs, Peter thinks they are done since the other doctors never took this long.  
“I’m not done yet, just keeping breathing, handsome.” Tony tuts gently when Peter starts moving. 

The boy looks a bit confused at first, but obeys once more. It’s a CG giving him a command after all so he can’t protest much.

“Good job.” Tony praises and pulls back, swinging his stethoscope back around his neck. “Is it hard to breathe, Hunny?”

Peter shrugs with a sniffle. “Just a lil’ tight.”

“Yeah, that’s not good. Do you have anymore owies?”

Peter thinks about mentioning the rope burns on his wrist, but decides it’s better if he doesn’t. Maybe this way he’ll be able to go back to Quentin.  
“No, I’m okay.”

Stephen grabs a set of electrodes and wires. “Can I place those stickers on you now or do you need some more time?”

Peter frowns. He’s never been asked by doctors if he needs more time, usually they’d just do things without asking him, hence why he got the rope burns.


	7. Peter’s story (part three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part three to Peter’s flashback scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seem to have underestimated how long the flashback scene would be so instead of three parts it’ll be much longer.

When Peter doesn’t answer for a while, Stephen assures him that they will wait a bit. Meanwhile, they a pulse oximeter on his finger and take his pants off before quickly covering with the blanket on the bed. He’s starting to get sleepy and he doesn’t really mind when Stephen gently slips his hand in the opening of the gown to put some stickers on his chest.  
“Tickles...” The boy giggles quietly, and finally he has a smile on his lips.

“Does it?” Stephen smiles with a chuckle. In the short time that they’ve known Peter, it’s nice to see him smile.  
“Yeah.” Peter smiles back and yawns. He’s getting really sleepy. At the care home, they’re not usually allowed naps the CGs stating it would ‘compromise their sleeping schedule.”  
“You can sleep if you want.”

“Really?” Peter asks hopefully. Stephen and Tony both pause a bit at that, but of course nod.  
“Yes, you can sleep for as long as you want.” Tony adds and lowers the bed to be almost flat. With a sigh, Peter tries to get comfortable, but his arms feel so empty when not holding anything. When he realises his stuffies are at home, he is just about to get upset, but then he looks up and sees Stephen holding out a crocodile stuffie.  
“His name is Coco and he loves to cuddle. Could you perhaps cuddle with him and make him happy?” Stephen suggests and Peter nods with a wider smile this time.

The boy accepts the stuffie with open arms and cuddles him against his chest, and it isn’t much longer after that the boy falls asleep.  
Stephen and Tony spend a few more minutes getting the boys situated and comfortable, then head over to the nurses station.  
“I kind of don’t want to look in here.” Stephen states in reference to the information Rhodey and Happy left.  
“Yeah, but it could be used as evidence if there is any abuse. We also have to do the physical exam, but I think we can wait a bit for that. He looks like he hasn’t had a proper rest.”  
Stephen nods to show he agrees and starts to take a look at Rhodey’s notes. He sees things like Peter’s vitals that had increased a lot since he got here. It isn’t until he sees the words in the sixth line that he pauses. ‘Patient appears to have markings on both wrist that looks similar to rope burns.’  
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, sliding the paper over to Tony. “Babe, look at this.”

“Jesus...” Tony curses under his breath as he reads the last line. “I don’t know about you, but I think it would be best to sedate him well and then do the complete physical. And that includes a thorough pelvic exam. Some of the evidence might disappear before we get to it.” Tony points out and Stephen nods along.  
“I feel so sorry for him. Has he always been in that care home? And if we find more evidence of abuse, then all of the other residents must be questioned as well.” Stephen adds, looking over at their newest patient on the bed further down the ward, sleeping peacefully for now.

“Me too. And it just leads to wonder how many others are being abused in that dreadful place. Why hasn’t any of the services for care homes done check-ins?”  
“I wish I knew, Babe. I really do. Plus, not to mention the fact that Quentin guy just sounds awful. Rhodey said Quentin told him that it was a waste of resources and time for them to be there.”  
Tony shakes his head. “Let me get this straight. A little who is in your care cant breathe, so you go for an ambulance and it’s a waste of resources and time? Yeah, that make perfect sense!” He skims through the notes a bit more. “It even says here what time the call was placed and by the time they got there, which was ten minutes later, Peter was already turning blue. Did the care home even attempt at giving him his medicine?”

“Doesn’t seem like they did. How can such a poorly Little be in their care? Someone like Peter should be here with us, or like a hybrid institution.” Stephen says, referring to some institutions where they keep Moderate Care Littles who need frequent medical treatment, so they have areas to do that, but most of the building is like a normal care-home. “But, anyway, let’s just let the police deal with all that and we’ll take care of Peter, yeah?”

“Sounds good.” Tony agrees and peaks over at Peter who’s still asleep. “I feel like we should give the sedative now so he doesn’t freak out if he were to be awake.”  
“Yeah, makes you wonder how many times those damn awful doctors and CGs probably sedated him.”  
Stephen stands up and goes over to draw a small dosage of sedative. “You wanna give it to him now, Babe?” He calls over to Tony who’s s frustratingly glancing at the notes.  
“Yeah, I think the sooner we get this over with the better. We’ve got a lot to go through.”

With a nod, Stephen grabs the IV line and injects the sedative through the port. After giving it a few moments, Stephen pats at Peter’s cheek and runs his finger around the boy’s eye to test his reaction.  
“Peter? Peter? Okay, he’s out.” Stephen concludes and goes to get the clipboard with a new sheet for a complete physical. After lowering the bed to be completely flat, both doctors get gloved before starting the exam.


	8. Peter’s story (part four)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is examined by Stephen and Tony after he arrives at Meadowvile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do apologize for any grammatical errors you may find in this fic.

They start with a visual inspection first to see if they find any other markings besides the ones on his wrist, not that those ones look great either because the skin is nearly raw.

“We should wrap these up.” Stephen suggests. “I don’t want them to get irritated further.”  
Tony nods and moves Peter so they can unbutton the gown to get a better look. “I don’t see any bruising so far which is good.” Tony states and rolls Peter’s gown down to reveal his bare chest. 

He can see that the boy looks a little on the smaller side, but that’s usually expected with Littles.

“Wonder if there’s any extensive damage.” Stephen says allowed and grabs his pen light from his scrubs breast pocket.

While the doctors examine him, Peter continues to sleep peacefully with the oxygen mask on, and his little, pale chest rises and falls steadily. 

There’s no bruising on his chest, but then Stephen pushes the gown open fully and pulls back the blanket. Adjusting the overhead light, Stephen and Tony can both see the old bruises on the boy’s abdomen. 

“I’d say there are two weeks old. My guess is a hit or punch.” Stephen says with a hint of sadness and Tony notes in down.

“What could he possibly need to be hit for? God, these CGs disgust me.” Tony grumbles and lightly pushes down on Peter’s abdomen.  
Stephen shrugs with a shake of the head. 

“Wonder if we’d find any healed broken bones.”  
Tony looks up when his partner mentions that, he’s never considered that a possibility. “We could do some scans then, it wouldn’t hurt him. Hey, can you page Steve? We’re gonna need a few things.”

While they wait for Steve to assist with the scans, Tony and Stephen continue with the physical exam and work their way down the boy’s body. They’ll have to do a separate exam for his pelvis, but that can wait a bit. Besides, the boy will need a heavier sedation for such an exam. 

“I’m relieved to say there are no other marks.” Stephen concludes and tucks Peter back in, then tugs his gloves off. Tony hums a bit sadly in agreement while he notes down everything.

“There’s not doubt now about the Littles being abused there now.” Tony grumbles and sits down back at the nurses. “He’s going to have to be relocated for sure, they all are.”

It’s a sad situation. All these Littles who are getting hurt for no reason except that the CGs don’t know how to take care of them.

“Definitely. And we know it’s never an easy thing for care-homes when it comes to taken in abused Littles. I’m just worried about how they all are mentally.”

It’s not long after that conversation that Steve walks through the doors of the ward and heads towards the to Doctors. “Sorry, Buck was being a bit antsy. Heard we got a guest staying with us. Is that him?” He asks and points over towards Peter in one of the beds.

“Yeah, abused, sadly. Tony and I will make a case for the police to keep him here for a while.” Stephen says, while Steve frowns and looks at the boy, glancing over his file to get familiar with him.   
“Then you should call right now.” Steve points out, but Tony has already picked up the phone and is waiting for the police to pick up. 

“How’s everyone else?” Stephen asks Steve in the meantime.

“They’re doing okay as they can be for High Care Littles.” He laughs. “There was a small argument between Loki and Buck, but that’s taken care of. And we had quite a few complaints about eating. It’s probably nothing though.”  
Stephen nods. “Yeah, I’m sure you know to just watch them when it comes to that.”  
Steve agrees and takes another glance at the make-shift chart the two doctors made for Peter. “Pelvic exam? You think there’s suspicion of sexual abuse?”

“He freaked when we tried to get him in the gown, so yeah, we’re a bit worried.” Stephen says and the nurse nods before putting aside the chart. “We should call in the dentist to check his mouth as well.” He adds thoughtfully.   
Meanwhile, Tony puts down the phone with a relieved smile.   
“We get to keep Peter for as long as we deem it medically necessarily. But, we have to let them know when Peter’s ready to be interviewed.” Tony recaps.

“I’m just worried about his mental health.” Stephen states. “It wouldn’t hurt to call in a psychologist or therapist either. There’s no telling what goes on in that care home.”  
“Plus not to mention that he’s pretty much afraid of us. I mean sure it’s expected for Littles, but his level of fear is on an entirely different level.” Tony adds.

“He’s afraid of you guys?” Steve wonders. “Poor Little Guy. I haven’t properly met him, but from what I’ve heard he sounds really sweet.”

“Hmm, he is.” Stephen smiles, but then remembers what they have to do before the boy wakes up. “Let’s get him to radiology, we want a full body MRI to look for old, untreated fractures.”   
The nurse nods and offers to help Stephen. Tony remains behind to see if he can get a hold of Peter’s medical records and see who was responsible for him and his asthma in particular


	9. Peter’s story (part five)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter’s examination is continued and he is given a small tour of Meadowvile.

It was a bit of a hassle to find someone competent enough to talk to at the care home, but finally he was connected to someone that would be transferring Peter’s records to their system.  
And from the glance he was able to get them, things didn’t look good. His medical history didn’t look good at all, a considerable amount of vaccinations and check-ups had been skipped. It was frustrating.

“Good news, nothing seems broken.” Stephen announces when he and Steve get back from radiology. Peter seems to be stirring a bit on the bed, but that is to be expected with the light sedation he got. 

“Hmm, my news isn't as good though.” Tony says and gestures for Stephen to come look at Peter’s records on the computer while Steve gets Peter’s bed back in place.

“How is this place not shut down yet? He hasn’t had any basic vaccinations since he came to the facility which was over two years ago. Not to mention that he’s only had the flu about a dozen times.”

“Yeah, I saw that. Not sure why that never give him a flu shot considering they’re all High Care Littles and prone to get ill.”  
Stephen is about to comment further but is stopped by a whine coming from the bed areas.

“I wan’ Quentin!”

“Hi, sweetheart.” Steve smiles, since he is the closest to Peter now. The two doctors get up and join him. “My name’s Steve. Yours is Peter right? And who’s that?” The nurse asks and points to the crocodile stuffie tucked safely in the boy’s arm. 

Letting the two of them converse, Tony stands back a little while Stephen checks the monitors and the IV fluid bags.

“Y-yeah.” Peter nods with a sniffle in answer of Steve’s questions. “Names Coco.” He smiles and holds out the stuffie for Steve to see. 

“Oh that’s a lovely name.” He smiles. “Coco’s a crocodile right? So that must mean he’s really brave.”  
Peter nods and kisses the stuffies head.

“Do you think you could be brave like Coco?”

Peter shrugs and frowns. “Don’ know. Sometimes Doc’ors hurt me and can be scary..”

Steve smiles and reaches up to pet the boy’s curly hair. “Awe, I’m sorry, Buddy. That’s not very nice of them at all. Do you think you can tell us why they’re so scary?”

“Took ‘round here-” Peter shows and takes the nurse’s wrist to demonstrate. “And squeeze hard and it hurt.” 

“When did this happen?” Stephen asks, but Peter just shrugs and says it happened a lot. 

“And on Fridays we get dessert. Do you like jelly? I like the red one.” Peter adds, thinking that is helpful too. The CGs chuckle softly before focusing on the matter at hand again.   
“You can have some jelly later, but first we gotta talk some more. Tell me about these marks.” Stephen prompts and points to the boy’s wrists.

Peter whimpers and tries to pull his wrist back. “I not suppo’ed to tell.”  
Tony decides to step in this time, taking the boy’s hand in his. “Sweetie, it’s okay. We just want to help you get better.”

“Okay. Well sometimes if I do not listen they grab me and it really hurts.”  
The three CGs with Peter try to keep their anger at bay for the sake of the boy, yet they just can’t help but get angry when the words come out of the boy’s mouth.  
“I’m sorry that happened to you. Do they do anything else? It’s very important you tell us.”

“Hmm, no.” Peter decides and shakes his head, and instead of pushing the boy further, the three CGs try to comfort themselves by remembering that it takes time for Littles to open up. They can’t expect Peter to trust them overnight. 

“That’s all right. We’ll talk more later. You’ve been very brave, Peter. We can tell you’re a really brave boy.” Tony praises and Peter blushes a bit, and avoids the CGs eyes.   
“And a pretty one too.” Stephen adds with a chuckle. “Now, would you like some dinner, then maybe a bath before bedtime?”

“Can I get out of bed?” Peter asks with wide eyes.  
Stephen and Tony exchange a glance at each other. “Sure, I don’t see why not.” The latter answers.

Peter immediately goes to get out of the bed, however is halted by the CGs.   
“Let us help you, Buddy.” Stephen laughs and goes to help the boy so he doesn’t get all tangled in the wires. He goes ahead and disconnects the wires, but leaves the electrode stickers on as well and does the same thing for the pulse ox. The had taken the oxygen mask during the physical exam when Peter was sleeping.

“What about that thing?” Peter asks and points over to the IV bag. “Does it stay here?”

“We’ll bring it along. It has wheels on the bottom you see?” Stephen explains and pulls the IV pole forward. The IV line is long enough for Peter to walk with it comfortably and Tony offers to take the boy’s hand. 

“How about a little tour? It’s actually a shame we didn’t give you one earlier.” Tony jokes a bit, since they didn’t exactly have time for a tour when Peter first arrived.


End file.
